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| Unknown - Woodcut of an indulgence- seller in a church from a 1521 pamphlet |
Martin Luther asserted key doctrines like the Sacrament had been corrupted, but the most important comment he made in The Captivity was "The holy spirit is greater than Aristotle". He used this to defend his idea that men were not transforming into divine beings when taking the sacrament, but both the divine and human were present. This was incomprehensible to the human mind, but for Martin that didn't matter because he had trust that God knew better. In my life, there have been many instances where I have not understood a principle in the Church. I have sat and pondered and searched and found nothing. But as I put that piece of the puzzle aside, and work on what I do know, that I can become more like Christ by living the Gospel, the answer has become clear. Usually through another person, an article in a magazine or simply by revelation, but it has always come. Somethings are incomprehensible: the amount of evil in the world, origins of man and the universe, and differential equations to name a few. But I trust, like Luther did, that the Holy Spirit knows better than Aristotle. Martin did not live to see his question about the sacrament be fully answered, even though he was close. I may not live to see all of my questions answered either, but I can follow Luther's example to proceed with what I do have: Faith.
By unknown - Woodcut of an indulgence-seller in a church from a 1521 pamphlet. Wikimedia commons, public domain
When Luther was younger he was almost struck by lightning (and later with some “enlightening” haha) and that helped him decide he wanted to be a monk. The way that God inspires people definitely differs from person to person. Sometimes those moments are “shocking” but more often they are quiet questions planted within our minds.
ReplyDeleteI have thought a lot about faith and the difference between "blind faith" and actual faith. We only really believe in something and know it's true if we act it out and observe the results. Our perception of the world is so unbelievably narrow that there is no way we can assume truth based on what we see. Action is why Martin Luther lives on today. He acted on his faith, and because his actions were based on truth his words are still resonating with people to this day.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post brings an interesting topic to mind. Like what your blog says, Luther calls into question the meaning of the sacrament. He challenges the ideas of "seven holy sacraments" and instead focuses on two sacraments, names the traditional breaking of the bread and wine sacrament and the baptism. By calling the remainder of these sacraments into question, he challenges the churches power by allowing people to be freed from owing their their salvation to the church. Instead of 7 ordinances to accomplish, they only require two. I believe this is a strong impetus for the coming reformation.
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